Fuse terminal clip



April 1947- P. M. CHRISTENSEN 2,419,007

FUSE TERMINAL CLIP Filed'Aug. 9, 1945 minals.

Patented Apr. 15, 1947 [UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FUSE TERMINAL ourPaul M. Christensen, West Hartford, Conn., as-

' signor, by mesne assignments, to Federal. trio Products Company, Inc.,Newark, N. corporation of New Jersey Application August 9,1943, SerialNo. 497,903

I 16 Claims. (Cl. 173-259) I It is an object of the invention to providea a fuse terminal clip requiring a very small amount of manual force toattach a fuse to or disengage the same from said clip.

It is another object of the invention to provide a fuse clip to attainthe foregoing object and also comprise relatively few component partswhich will nevertheless serve to firmly clamp the fuse terminals inelectrical engagement with the contact member embodied in the clip.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a fuse clip inwhich the fuse terminal engaging members yieldably clamp the fuseterminal therebetween.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to guide and limitthe movement of the fuse terminal engaging and clamping member withrespect' to the fuse terminal contact embodied in the clip construction.

The details and other objects of the invention are described andillustrated in the following specification and said accompanyingdrawings forming a part thereof.

The accompanying drawings show the embodiment of the invention which isdeemed preferable, but it will be understood that the drawings areintended for illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed asdefining or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims forming apart of this specification being relied upon for that purpose.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of a fuse block supporting a pairof spaced fuse terminal clips embodying the present invention, said viewbeing a section on the line I-l of Fig. 3.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of one end of the fuse block and-afuse terminal contact, the clamping member being omitted from said view.

Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation of the fuse block and terminal cliptaken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. The component parts of the terminalclip in said view are shown in their fuse terminal clamping positions.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the component parts ofthe clip construction in the position to which they are moved whileinserting or removing afuse from said clip construction.

Fig. 5 is a'partially sectioned bottom plan view of the clamping memberof the fuse clip con- 2 s tlrucgion, said view being taken on line 5-5of Fuse clips of conventional design embodying a pair of opposed springarms respectively provided with curved seats or opposed fiat faces toreceive a terminal of a fuse usually require a relatively great amountof force to remove a fuse from or insert the same in said clip due tothe fact that. if firm electrical contact or engagement is to be presentbetween the fuse terminal and the clip, the clip must be made ofspring-like material which is sufliciently strong to insure said firmengagement and is usually so strong that considerable force is requiredto move said terminal with respect to said clip. If the conventionalclip is made so that the fuse terminal may be easily inserted in orremoved from said clip and require only relatively little force to doso, the clip must be made of such relatively light or weak springlikematerial that firm electrical engagement between the clip and fuseterminal is not assured.

It is therefore one of the principal purposes of the present inventionto embody in a fuse clip easily operable members which will require muchless force to operate than the conventional clip, described above, andyet insure firm electrical contact between the clip and the fuseterminal engaged thereby.

The foregoing desirable objects are attained by providing a structure inwhich the opposed clamping members adapted to engage opposite sides of afuse terminal are held in clamping engagement with said terminal by arelatively strong spring but said structure is such that, whenrelatively moving the opposed clamping members for purposes of insertingor removing a fuse terminal from the clip, the full force of the springwill not be opposed during such relative movement of said clampingmembers.

In the drawings, a conventional fuse block ID of insulating material isprovided with a pair of spaced recesses l2. The end walls l4 and alsoone side [6 of said recesses are substantially vertical to the bottom'ofthe fuse block. The other side wall i8 is inclined for the major portionof its length with respect to said bottom of the fuse block for purposesto be'described.

said aperture also having an annular shoulder 32 to accommodate the headof the pin and prevent upward movement thereof with respect to the fuseblock.

A substantially C-shaped clamping member 34 is provided with opposedends or legs 36 and 38 which are respectively adapted to clampinglyengage fuse terminal 40 and be connected to the anchor 30. The leg 36 isprovided with a manually engageable button or knob 42 by which theclamping member may be readily manipulated. Furthermore, said leg 36 isalso provided at its free end with a reversely curved portion 44providing a cam surface to facilitate engagement and disengagement ofthe leg 38 with the fuse terminal 40. The leg 38 of the clamping memberis provided with an elongated opening 46 which receives the pincomprising the anchor 30, said opening being preferably formed withrounded ends to conform to the cylindrical surface of said anchor. Theopening 48 not only permits the clamping member to be linearly movedwith respect to said anchor but said opening is elongated to permitpivotal movement of the clamping member on said anchor from the positionshown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, said pivotal movement freelytaking place without binding. The clamping member is pivoted principallyto move the leg 36 into or from engagement with the fuse terminal whilethe linear movement of the clamping member is principally to effectclamping of the fuse terminal against the contact seat. Such clampingmovement will not be totally linear, however, but will be partiallypivotal also.

Anchor 30 is surrounded by a helical spring 48 which at one end engagesthe upper surface of the leg 38 of the clamping member and at the otherabuts an annular washer 50 secured to the upper end of said anchor by alocking pin 52 which extends transversely to the anchor through asuitable hole formed therein.

The vertical dimension of the clamping member 34 is such that when theleg 36 thereof is in clamping position with respect to the fuse terminal40, as viewed in Fig. 3, there is ample clearance between the undersideof the leg 38 of the clamping member and the bottom of the recess i2 toenable the spring 48 to exert its full force downward on said clampingmember to insure firm electrical engagement between the fuse terminal 40and seat 28 of contact 20.

When it is desired to remove a fuse from the seats 28, the button 42 ofeach clamping member is moved toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 3,whereby the curved portion 44 of leg 36 will slightly cam the clampingmember upward against the action of spring 48 and permit the outer endof leg 36 to slide transversely of the base block and over the uppersurface of the fuse terminal 48 until the clamping member 34 reaches theposition shown in Fig. 4. Such disengaging movement of the clampingmember is 4 limited by its engagement with the inclined wall l8 ofrecess I2. Furthermore, substantially at the time that the curved end 44of the clamping member disengages the upper surface of the fuseterminal, the angular portion of the clamping member, which connects leg38 to the remainder of said clamping member, will besubstantially inposition to abut the bottom of recess l2 without much additionaldownward movement. This is a desirable feature since, when the clampingmember is moved from the position in Fig. 4 to that in Fig. 3 incidentto clamping the fuse terminal, the clamping member would otherwise haveto be moved upward a certain amount against the action of spring 48while moving to I its terminal clamping position shown in Fig. 3.

It will be observed that when the clamping member is in the positionshown in Fig. 4, the spring 48 is compressed and is so held by the leg38 of the clamping member while said clamping member remains againstwall l8. The remainder of the clamping member thus serves as a lever tomaintain leg 38 in said position, the portion of the base of the recesswhich coacts with the above-mentioned angular portion of the clamp ingmember serving as a fulcrum. Should the clip not contain a fuseterminal, the clamping member 34 will be normally disposed in asubstantially vertical position with respect to the base block In andleg 38 will be disposed against the base of the recess l2. When it isdesired to insert a fuse terminal while the clip is so disposed, theclamping member is moved from the position just described to that shownin Fig. 4 and, during such movement, said angular portion of theclamping member will fulcrum on the base of the recess l2 to compressspring 48 and otherwise assume the position shown in Fig. 4. Suchmovement will require only a small amount of manual force in view of therelative lengths of the portions of the clamping member 34 which aredisposed on opposite sides of said angular portion.

Inasmuch as the movement of the leg 36 of the clamping member to or fromterminal clamping position is substantially transverse to the directionof the force imposed upon said clamping member by spring 48, the fullforce of Said spring does not have to be opposed in order to insert afuse terminal in the instant clip construction or remove the fuseterminal therefrom. Thus, the spring 48 may be made quite strong inorder to insure firm electrical engagement between the fuse terminal 40and the contact seat 28, while the manipulation of the clamping member34 remains easy and requires relatively little force in comparison tothat exerted by the spring 48 in a direction linearly of anchor 30.

Movement of the clamping member from the position shown in Fig. 4 tothat shown in Fig. 3 is limited by engagement of the clamping member 34with one side of the seat 28, as shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the widthof the contact 34 is slightly less than the distance between the endwall l4 of recess l2 so that movement of the clamping member in therecess will take place without binding but said end walls M will serveto maintain the clamping member in proper alignment with respect to theseat 28 while being moved pivotally and linearly to its clamping ornon-clamping position. The sides of the seat 28 also preferably extendupward sufllciently far to prevent the possibility of accidentaldislodgement of the fuse from the seat while the clamping member isbeing moved into clamping engagement with said terminal or removed fromengagement'therewith. Further, opening 46 is made sufliciently long toreadily permit movement of the clamping member between the positionsrespectively shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Clamping member 34 is alsopreferably made of material which is sufficiently rigid to resistdeformation although slight deformation or bending of said member duringuse will not materially detract from the benefits of the invention.

In the foregoing description, the terms used to denote position ormovement of certain elements of the invention, such as bottom, top,upward, downward, and the like, are used when considering the fuse blockand clips in the normal position which is that illustrated in Fig. 1when the sheet i held vertically. Said descriptive terms are to beconsidered in the same relative sense regardless of the position inwhich the fuse block may be actually mounted in use.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in its preferredembodiment and has included certain details, it should be understoodthat the invention is not to be limited to the precise details hereinillustrated and described since the same may be carried out in otherways, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact Provided with a seatadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a clamping member having a part insaid recess and a portion adapted to engage said fuse terminal and clampit in said seat of the contact, an anchor for said clamping member,mechanism operatively connecting said clamping member and anchor andcomprising means adapted to permit movement of said portion of theclamping member in a plurality of direction transversely of the fuse,said movement of said portion in said directions respectively effectingengagement between the clamping member and fuse .terminal and effectingfirm clamping of said fuse terminal against the seat of said contact,and biasing means in said recess engaging said part of the clampingmember and adapted to urge said clamping member in one of saidtransverse directions and in directions toward said seat to effect firmclamping of said fuse terminal against .the seat of said contact.

2. A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact provided with a seatadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a clamping member having a part insaid recess and a portion adapted to engage said fuse terminal and clampit in said seat of the contact, an anchor for said clamping member,spring means engaging said part of the clamping member in said recess,and means operatively connecting said clamping member and anchor, saidmeans permitting pivotal movement of said clamping member transverselyof the fuse and linear movement of said clamping member with respect .tosaid anchor and toward said seat, whereby said portion of said clampingmember may be pivotaily moved into engagement with said fuse terminaland substantially linearly moved to effect firm clamping of said fuseterminal against the seat of said contact.

3. A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact provided with a seatadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a clamping member having a part insaid recess and a portion adapted to engage said fuse termlnaland clampit in said seat of the contact, an anchor for said clamping member insaid recess, and means including a biasing member operatively connectingsaid lamping member and anchor in said recess, said connecting meanshaving a slot through which said anchor projects and permitting pivotaland linear movement of said clamping member with respect to said anchor,whereby said portion of the clamping member may be pivotally moved'intoengagement with said fuse terminal whereas said biasing membersubstantially linearly moves said clamping member to effect firmclamping of said fuse terminal against the seat of said contact.

4. A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact provided with a seatadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a clamping member having a part insaid recess and a portion adapted to engage said fuse terminal and clampit in said seat of the contact, spring means engaging said part of theclamping member in said recess, an anchor for said clamping member,means operatively connecting said clamping member and anchor, said meanshaving a slot through which said anchor projects and permitting pivotaland linear movement of said clamping member with respect to said anchor,whereby said portion of said clamping member may be pivotaily moved toengage the fuse terminal and substantially linearly move to effect firmclamping of said fuse terminal ainst the seat of said contact, and

means adapted to be engaged by the clamping member to limit the pivotalmovement thereof in one direction.

5. A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact provided with a seatadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a clamping member having a part insaid recess and a portion adapted to engage said fuse terminal and clampit in said seat of the contact, an anchor for said clamping member, saidclamping member being pivotally movable transversely of the fuse andalso linearly toward said seat, means including a biasing memberoperatively connecting said clamping member and anchor in said recess,said means permitting pivotal and linear movement of said clampingmember with respect to said anchor, whereby said portion of the clampingmember may be pivotaily moved into engagement with said fuse terminalwhereas said biasin member substantially linearly moves said clampingmember toward said seat to effect firm clamping of said fuse terminalagainst the seat of said contact, and means adapted to be engaged by theclamping member to limit the pivotal movement thereof in one direction.

6. A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base having an electric contact provided with a seat adaptedto receive a fuse terminal, a substantially C-shaped clamping memberhaving one leg adapted to be moved into engagement with said fuseterminal and clamp it in said seat of the contact, spring means forbiasing said leg to clamp said terminal, an anchor for said clampingmember, and means operatively connecting the other leg of said clampingmember and anchor, said connecting means permitting pivotal and linearmovement of said clamping member with respect to said anchor to effectengagement of said one leg of the clamping member with said fuseterminal and also effect firm clamping of said fuse terminal to saidcontact seat by said one leg of the clamping member. s

'7. A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base having an electric contact provided with a seat adaptedto receive a fuse terminal, a substantially C-shaped clamping memberhaving one leg adapted to be moved into engagement with said fuseterminal and clamp it in said seat of the contact, an anchor for saidclamping member, and mechanism including biasing means operativelyconnecting the other leg of said clamping member and anchor, saidmechanism comprising means adapted to permit pivotal and linear movementof said clamping member with respect to said anchor to effect saidengagement of said one leg of the clamping member with said fuseterminal during said movement of said clamping member and also permitsaid biasing means to move said leg of said clamping member against saidfuse terminal and effect firm clamping thereof against said seat of saidcontact.

chor for said clamping member, said pin having a cross-sectional arealess than that of said aperture to permit limited pivotal movement ofsaid clamping member with respect to said pin and also permit freemovement of said clamping member linearly of said pin to effect saidengagement of said one leg of the clamping member with said fuseterminal and also effect firm clamping of said fuse terminal to saidcontact seat by said one leg of the clamping member.

9. A fuse terminal clip construction comprising in combination, acontact provided with a seat adapted to receive a fuse terminal, asubstantially c-shaped clamping member having one leg adapted to bemoved into engagement with said fuse terminal and clamp it in said seatof the contact, the other leg of said clamping member having an aperturetherethrough, and a pin stationarily mounted with respect to saidcontact and disposed through said aperture in said other leg of theclamping member to comprise an anchor for said clamping member, said pinhaving a crosssectional area less than that of said aperture to permitlimited pivotal movement of said clamping member with respect to saidpin to efiect engagement and disengagement of said one leg of theclamping member with and from said fuse terminal, and a spring mountedtoeoact with said clamping member and normall bias it linearly of said pinin one direction to effect firm clamping of said fuse terminal to saidcontact seat by said one leg of the clamping member.

10. A fuse terminal clamp construction-comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact secured to said baseadjacent said recess and provided with a seat adapted to receive a fuseterminal, a substantially C-shaped clamping member having one legadapted to engage said fuse terminal and the other leg disposed in saidrecess, an anchor mounted in said recess and engageable with said otherleg of said clamping member, and mechanism operatively connecting saidanchor and other leg and comprising means adapted to permil: pivotal andlinear movement of said clamping member with respect to said anchor andcontact seat to effect coengagement of the fuse terminal and said oneleg of the clamping member and also effect firm clamping of said fuseterminal between said contact seat and said one leg of the clampingmember incident to such movement of said clamping member, certain wallsof said recess in the base being positioned so as to be adapted tomaintain said clamping member in proper alignment with said contact seatduring said movement of said clamping member.

11. A fuse terminal clamp construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact secured to said baseadjacent said recess and provided with a seat adapted to receive a fuseterminal, a substantially C-shaped clamping member having one legadapted to engage said fuse terminal and the other leg disposed in saidrecess, an anchor mounted in said recess and engageable with said otherleg of said clamping member, and mecha- Q nism operatively connectingsaid anchor and other leg and comprising means adapted to permit pivotaland linear movement of said clamping member in opposite directions withrespect to said anchor and contact seat to effect coengagement of thefuse terminal and said one leg of the clamping member and also effectfirm clamping of said fuse terminal between said contact seat and saidone leg of the clamping member incident to said movement of saidclamping member, certain Walls of said recess in the base beingpositioned so as to be adapted to maintain said clamping member inproper alignment with said contact seat during said movement of saidclamping member and another wall of said recess being p0- sitioned toengage said clamping member durin pivotal movement thereof in onedirection to limit said pivotal movement of the clamping member.

12. A fuse terminal clamp construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact secured to said baseadjacent said recess and provided with a seat adapted to receive a fuseterminal, a substantially c-shaped clamping member having one le adaptedto engage said fuseterminal and the other leg of said clamping memberbeing disposed in said recess and provided with an aperture, springmeans for biasing said one leg to clamp said terminal and a pinprojecting upward above the base of said recess and disposed throughsaid aperture in said other leg of said clamping member to comprise ananchor for said clamping member and said pin having a smallercross-sectional area than that of said aperture to permit pivotal andlinear movement of said clamping member with respect to said pin andcontact seat to effect coengagement of the fuse terminal and said oneleg of the clamping member and also effect firm clamping of said fuseterminal between said contact seat and said one leg of the clampingmember incident to such movement of said clamping member, certain wallsof said recess in the base being positioned so as to be adapted tomaintain said clamping member in proper alignment with said contact seatduring said movement of said clamping member.

13. A fuse terminal clamp construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base pro- 9 vided with a recess, a contact secured to saidbase adjacent said recess and provided with a seat overlying said recessand adapted to receive a fuse terminal, a substantially c-shapedclamping member having one leg adapted to be moved to overlie saidcontact seat and engage said fuse terminal, the other leg of saidclamping member being disposed in said recess, an anchor mounted in saidrecess and engageable with said other leg of said clamping member, andmechanism operatively connecting said anchor and other leg andcomprising means adapted to permit pivotal and linear movement of saidclamping member with respect to said anchor and contact seat to effectcoengagement of the fuse terminal-and said one leg of the clampingmember and also effect firm clamping of said fuse terminal between saidcontact seat and said one leg of the clamping member incident to suchmovement of the clamping member, certain walls of said recess in thebase being positioned so as to be adapted to maintain said clampingmember in proper alignment with said contact seat during said movementof said clamping member.

14. A fuse terminal clamp construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact secured to said baseadjacent said recess and provided with a seat overlying said recess andadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a substantially C-shaped clampingmember having one leg adapted to be moved to overlie said contact seatand engage said fuse terminal and the other leg of said clamping memberbeing disposed in'said recess and provided with an aperture, springmeans for biasing said one leg to clamp said terminal, and a pinprojecting upward above the' base of said recess and disposed throughsaid aperture in.-

said other leg of said clamping member to comprise an anchor for saidclamping member nd said pin having a smaller cross-sectional ea thanthat of said aperture to permit pivotal and linear movement of saidclamping member with respect to said pin and contact seat to effectcoengagement of the fuse terminal and said one leg of the clampingmember and also eflect firm clamping of said fuse terminal between saidcontact seat and said one leg of the clamping member incident to suchmovement of said clamping member, certain walls of said recess inthebase beng positioned so as to be adapted 10 terminal and the other legof said clamping member being disposed in said recess and provided withan aperture, a pin projecting upward above the base of said recess anddisposed through said aperture in said other leg of said clamping memberto comprise an anchor for said clamping member and said pin having asmaller crosssectional area than that of said aperture to permit pivotalmovement of said clamping member with respect to said pin and contactseat to effect engagement and disengagement of said one leg of theclamping member with and from said fuse terminal, and spring meansmounted to coact with said clamping member and normally bias it linearlyof said pin in one direction to efiect firm clamping of said fuseterminal between said contact seat and said one leg of the clampingmember.

16. A fuse terminal clamp construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a recess, a contact secured to said baseadjacent said recess and provided with a seat overlying said recess andadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a substantially C-shaped clampingmember having one leg adapted to be moved to overlie said contact seatand engage said-fuse terminal and the other leg of said clamping memberbeing disposed in said recess and provided with an aperture, a pinprojecting upward above the base of said recess and disposed throughsaid aperture in said other leg of said clamping member to comprise ananchor for. said clamping member and said pin having a smallercross-sectional area than that of said aperture to permit pivotalmovement of said clamping member-with respect to said pin and contactseat to effect engagement and disengagement of said one leg of theclamping member with and from said fuse terminal, manually engageablemeans carried by said clamping member and by which it may be pivot-allymoved as described, and spring means mounted to coact with said clampingmember and normally bias it linearly of said pin in one direction toeifect firm clamping of said fuse terminal between said contact seat andsaid 1 one leg of the clamping member. I

to maintain said clamping member in proper Y alignment with said contactseat during said movement of said clamping member.

15. A fuse terminal clamp construction comprising in combination, aninsulating base provided with a, recess, a contact secured to said baseadjacent said recess and provided with a seat overlying said recess andadapted to receive a fuse terminal, a substantially O-shaped clampingmember having one leg adapted to be moved to overlie said contact seatand engage said fuse PAUL M. CHRISTENSEN REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the .file; of this. patent:-

. UNITED STATES PATENTS

